USA-based Indian engineer marries gay lover in Maharashtra with blessings of their families

Congratulations to the couple! Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ ANI

Love. A four-letter-word that makes the world go round. Label it or define it as much as you want, but there's no right or wrong when it comes to love. And a USA-based Indian engineer proved just that by tying the knot with his gay lover in a traditional ceremony at Yavatmal in Maharashtra.

40-year-old Hrishi Mohankumar Sathawane married Vinh, from Vietnam at a hotel in the city. Hrishi, who holds a BTech from IIT-Bombay, currently lives in California and has a US greencard. According to his social media profile, his parents were against his homosexual relationship, but he succeeded in convincing them to bless him and Vinh, states a report published in the Times of India.

The hotel where the couple got married is just a few kilometers away from the office of the Superintendent of Police. But, with the Supreme Court agreeing to reconsider and examine its 2013 order of criminalisation of homosexuality, the ceremony went without any glitches.

The couple also had a haldi ceremony. Photo Courtesy: MumbaiMirror

Apparently, they got engaged in mid-2017 and later had an American wedding in October. Interestingly, the hotel management denied that there was a wedding of any sort. According to them, it was a family get-together. However, the couple took to Facebook and shared posts that made it apparent they got married in the hotel. Seems like the hotel management couldn't come to terms with a gay wedding happening in their premises!

As soon as the pictures of the wedding were shared on FB, they went viral. "When asked, additional SP Amarsingh Jadhav first said he did not want to comment, but later added he had ordered an investigation," states TOI.

Since the ceremony was a private affair, it was attended by just close family and friends. "I prefer calling it a commitment ceremony and not marriage. For me it's more important that I share vows with Vinh in front of my loved ones. India always had a very liberal and inclusive culture. It was the British who laid the colonial law of Section 377 which still continues to affect LGBTQIA lives in India. Something like this should not exist," said Hrishi in an interview to Mumbai Mirror.

Well, congratulations to the couple!